Kelly Ayotte: Deficit Is "The Biggest Threat," So Let's Increase It!

August 19, 2010 1:43 pm ET —
Matt Finkelstein

Kelly Ayotte, the former attorney
general of New Hampshire,
is the GOP favorite to challenge Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) for the Senate in
November. After receiving Sarah Palin's endorsement
last month, Ayotte gained notoriety when she voiced support
for changing the Fourteenth Amendment to end birthright citizenship.

In a new interview
with the Foster's Daily Democrat, Ayotte
displayed the conservative chops that earned her Palin's "mama
grizzly" stamp of approval. Ayotte
told the paper that the deficit is "the biggest threat to our country" right
now. However, her ideas for addressing
the problem and boosting the economy would only make matters worse:

One way Ayotte wants to cut the deficit is repeal the $900 billion
health care reform bill. She noted many components don't kick in until
after the presidential election in 2012.

"That's why it's important to keep the repeal effort alive," she
said. "What we owe is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. It's
an American issue." [...]

She would also like to see taxes on
capital gains and personal income rolled back. She said she is willing to
work behind the scenes to achieve those goals.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office,
the Affordable Care Act will reduce the deficit
by $130 billion in the first ten years (and up to $1.3
trillion by 2029). So repealing it,
obviously, isn't such a great way to fix the problem. Meanwhile, new tax cuts would only add the
budget shortfall.

Despite their fear-mongering about the deficit, Palin and
other GOP leaders have been fighting to extend
the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, even though doing so would significantly
increase the deficit. Asked recently how
she is different from the rest of the GOP, Ayotte replied, "Nothing
comes to mind."